Your Arms Feel Like Home
by Masked-Writer-In-Disguise
Summary: KakaIru. "Now that he was safe and comfortable, the sound of turning pages lulling him towards sleep, he realized his head hurt and his shoulders were still up around his ears. The back of his neck felt stiff and his stomach was revolting. Tension headache. Damn..."


_**Masked-Writer-In-Disguise:**_ _Hey, y'all! Here's a little something for you. I know I haven't been active, but I'm hoping to change that real soon… Here, have some Kakashi and Iruka to tide you over for a bit._

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own the characters or the song that inspired me, but I do own the plot._

_**Inspiration:**__Your Arms Feel Like Home__ – 3 Doors Down_

&~o~o~o~o~o~o~&

_Your Arms Feel Like Home_

_By: Masked-Writer-In-Disguise_

Kakashi's visible eye drooped as he finally –_finally_- closed the door to the apartment he shared with Iruka. He'd been gone for three weeks. Three days was quite long enough, but three weeks was definitely pushing it. Three months would have been unbearable. When Kakashi had been younger, staying away from his empty home had been of the utmost importance; he'd been alone, so no one would miss him if he was gone too long. He'd only had his dogs and they always went with him.

The house had remained empty, but that didn't matter. Now he had someone to get home to, a reason to make it back alive, a person he loved in his bed. Kakashi and Iruka were only two people and they didn't need an entire clan complex. Instead they rented a two bedroom apartment set aside for shinobi couples and new families. The second bedroom was for Naruto, should he need a safe haven, but it was rarely used these days. It remained empty tonight, and Kakashi hardly glanced at it as he made his way through the dark to toward the bedroom at the end of the hall, outlined in gold.

The light meant Iruka was still awake and that was just fine.

All he wanted right now was a shower and Iruka, preferably at the same time, but he'd settle for one after the other if he absolutely had to. When he nudged open the door, Iruka was sitting on their shared bed, propped up by every pillow they owned, reading. It was Kakashi's book; the orange cover was the brightest thing in the earth-toned room and it made Kakashi smile to see it. Not many people knew the Academy teacher was as perverted as the rest of the shinobi population. He was just better at hiding it.

Gray eyes skipped over Iruka's body, searching for anything out of place. There was nothing except what was usually there at night. Brown hair hung down, damp, around his face to broad shoulders. No shirt. All the scars were exactly where they were supposed to be. No new additions. Calloused hands were relaxed, even the one holding the well-worn book in his lap. The sheet was down low enough that the jonin could tell there was no clothing on his lover's lower half either. If he hadn't been so tired, Kakashi was sure sex would be happening right about now; but he was tired, so they'd just have to wait to have sex in the morning.

"Are you going to come in, or are you just gonna stare at me?" Iruka asked, not even looking up from his book.

"Maa, just admiring the view. Is that a crime?" Kakashi pushed the door open all the way to reveal the rest of the spotless room. Neat and tidy; just the way Iruka liked it.

"Not a crime, but I missed you, so come in." Iruka finally looked up and his laughing brown eyes met Kakashi's sleepy gray. "If I had known you were coming home tonight, I would have waited to shower."

"There's no harm in taking another," Kakashi replied, stepping into the room in the direction of the dresser, disrobing all the way.

"I might just take another, then. Are you seriously getting pajamas?"

"No," Kakashi negated, pointedly placing his weapons' pouch in the drawer he had opened, along with the rest of his weapon supplies. "You gonna join me then?"

In reply, Iruka snapped the book closed and pushed the sheet aside. Yep, definitely naked. Iruka stood and Kakashi found his eyes wandering, as they were wont to do whenever Iruka was in the same room, and especially when he was naked. So both Kakashi's eyes traced every line, every scar, every muscle. He never got tired of looking at Iruka.

"C'mon, Kakashi," Iruka said. "You're about ready to drop. Let's get you clean so we can get you in bed."

Kakashi chuckled and, naked, followed Iruka into the bathroom.

The shower was warm and mostly uneventful. Of course there was kissing, so naturally hands wandered to places they weren't precisely supposed to be, but beyond that, everything was strictly business. Since Iruka had showered earlier, he spent most of his time washing the sweat, blood and grime from Kakashi's pale skin, careful not to tear the field stitches that were on his upper left thigh and across his lower back. Kakashi ran soap over Iruka, just because he felt that he should be doing something to help, but they eventually found themselves back in bed.

Kakashi'd had to steal away some of Iruka's pillows, but the two of them were comfortable enough. Currently, the silver-haired man was tucked up under Iruka's arm where he belonged. Most people would have pegged Kakashi as a standoff-ish, non-cuddly person, but he wasn't. He'd hog Iruka's side, legs wrapped around Iruka's, arms tight around the other man's waist, until the chunnin kicked him out and they were both fond of that arrangement. Well, at least he thought they were both fine with it; Iruka hadn't told him to get lost yet.

It wasn't until Kakashi was finally in his own bed with Iruka wrapped around him, watching his lover flip the pages of his book that he realized he'd been tense. Now that he was safe and comfortable, the sound of turning pages lulling him towards sleep, he realized his head hurt and his shoulders were still up around his ears. The back of his neck felt stiff and his stomach was revolting. Tension headache. Damn, but he hadn't had one of these in years, not since he'd first found out he would be training a genin team.

"Go to sleep, 'Kashi. You'll feel better in the morning, trust me."

"I can't relax. It's like I forgot in the three weeks I've been away," Kakashi mumbled in reply.

Iruka sighed and set the book down, and through his cracked eyes, Kakashi saw Iruka look down at him. Then there was a strong hand at the back of his neck and a thumb was digging into the tendon right up next to his spinal cord and Kakashi moaned. Definitely tense. Definitely needed this. The teacher chuckled that throaty sound that made Kakashi melt; and he did. As Iruka worked, Kakashi's headache went away, his shoulders dropped, his neck finally let go and his stomach started to settle down, but not completely. Some things only sleep could fix.

"Now are you going to sleep, hon?" Iruka murmured.

"Mhm…"

Another chuckle. "You're kinda like a cat, Kakashi. Rub you behind the ears or on the neck and you go all to pieces. Surprised you're not purring yet."

He frowned a little, but it was soon gone because the jonin couldn't bring himself to care much one way or the other about the comparison because that hand was working magic and the rest of Iruka was pressed up against his front, so Kakashi just closed his eyes and let relaxation pave the road for sleep.

&~o~o~o~o~o~o~&

_**Masked-Writer-In-Disguise:**__ I wanna massage from Iruka… anyway, there you have it! How'd I do?_


End file.
